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These days, every smartwatch can track your heart rate, not to mention your location and potentially a half-dozen other things. For a running watch to be special, it needs tons of extra fitness-centric features—and some critical small details, like physical buttons. Read on for my picks.
So here are some things to think about when crafting the “job description” for your running watch. Some might be critical to you; some might be irrelevant.
For most everyday functions, it may not matter if you’re clicking a physical button or booping an icon on a screen. But when you’re running laps at the track, your shaky, sweaty fingers are going to have a hard time with a touchscreen. For that reason, runners often prefer a watch with real buttons. All of my picks below have physical buttons.
How good is the GPS?
But some location systems are more accurate than others. The least accurate watches are the ones that rely on your phone's GPS rather than having their own built in. (Whoop and some Fitbits, for example.) The most accurate smartwatches use multiple bands per satellite, and work in more parts of the world by supporting multiple networks like GLONASS and Galileo.
All of my picks below use multiple satellite systems (with one obvious exception, as you’ll see). It’s worth noting that GNSS keeps getting better over the years, so newer models outperform older ones as a general rule.
But if you do very long runs—you’re training for a marathon, perhaps—you’ll also want to know how long you can run. Playing music and tracking your location use more power than just wearing a watch in its regular timekeeping mode, so check how many hours of active use the watch provides. I’ll note battery life for my picks below.
Does it help you navigate, or just track where you’ve been?
Fancier running watches can track your fatigue and readiness, suggest workouts for you, and even guide you along a customized training plan. Meanwhile, the more basic watches will trust that you’re planning your own training; their job is just to be a tool to track what you’ve done.
Do you want a running watch, or a general purpose smartwatch?
The models below are for running first, everyday life second. Check out my guide on trackers for general health and fitness if you want something that’s more of a “smartwatch I can run with.”
With those features in mind, I have picks for a variety of budgets and needs.
The best overall: Garmin Forerunner 970
Garmin Forerunner 970 $749.99 at Amazon Get Deal Get Deal $749.99 at AmazonThe 970 has a few advantages over the 570. The biggest one is that it can display full-color maps while you're navigating, a feature that's incredibly handy if you like to download route files to follow new trails or find your way around when traveling. The other nifty feature is an LED flashlight, which may have originally been meant for outdoor adventures, but which Garmin owners constantly praise for helping them to navigate their house at night without waking a sleeping child or partner.
The best budget pick: Suunto Run
Suunto Run $199.00 at Amazon $249.00 Save $50.00 Shop Now Shop Now $199.00 at Amazon $249.00 Save $50.00While the Forerunner 55 is probably the cheapest new watch out there, it's missing a lot of features, like dual-band GPS and resting HRV status. The Forerunner 165 has most of what the 55 is missing, including a nice sharp AMOLED screen, but still no dual-band GPS. One of my favorites in this space at the moment is the Pace 3, by Garmin Competitor Coros.
Instead, take a look at the Suunto Run. I really enjoyed it while I was reviewing it. Besides performing well on everything that matters, it has a bright and clear display, it's probably the lightest-weight watch I've reviewed, and it displays its navigation more clearly than most. It's $249 normally but often goes on sale—it's $199 as I'm writing this.
The oldie but goodie: Garmin Forerunner 255
Garmin Forerunner 255 $339.00 at Walmart $349.99 Save $10.99 Shop Now Shop Now $339.00 at Walmart $349.99 Save $10.99But there's a well-kept secret here: the model before the 265 is the 255, and it's still available for sale. The 255 (and its fuller-featured sibling, the 955) have a reflective MIP screen, nearly all of the training features of the 265 and 570, and pretty much all of the tech that matters, like dual-band GPS. I've written more here about why the 255 is such a good buy, even though it's been a few years since it first launched.
When you buy it, pay attention to whether you're getting the 255 or 255S (larger or smaller size), and whether or not it's the "music" version, which can download and play music files without your phone. I carry my phone in my pocket, so this doesn't matter to me—but it might for you.
The best-kept secret: Coros Pace Pro
Coros Pace Pro $349.00 at Amazon Get Deal Get Deal $349.00 at AmazonThe watch I'd like to spotlight here, though, is the newer Coros Pace Pro. It has an AMOLED screen and features onboard maps, making it pretty comparable to a Forerunner 965 for hundreds of dollars less. When it comes to personal favorites, I still prefer the Garmin ecosystem and the smaller sizes that are available in Garmin watches (the Pace Pro is only available in a 46 millimeter size). But I can't deny that, when it comes to features and price, the Coros Pace Pro outperforms the Garmin Forerunner 265. For more on the difference between the two brands, check out what happened when I swapped my Garmin for a Coros this summer.
The fancy watch for fancy runners: Garmin Fenix 8 Solar Sapphire
Garmin Fenix 8 Solar Sapphire $1,099.99 at Amazon Shop Now Shop Now $1,099.99 at AmazonGarmin also introduced an AMOLED screen on the Fenix 8, but AMOLED and solar charging don't go together, so you'll have to choose one or the other.
Fenix watches, generally, have all of Garmin’s best bells and whistles, with an incredible battery life. In smartwatch mode you’re looking at a couple of weeks, not days (four weeks with solar charging is the official estimate), and the watch will last 13 hours of active use with all-systems GPS and music playing.
The barebones option that elite runners use: Timex Ironman
Timex Ironman $40.80 at Amazon $47.92 Save $7.12 Shop Now Shop Now $40.80 at Amazon $47.92 Save $7.12The Timex Ironman is a watch with physical buttons, a stopwatch, and a backlight that you can turn on when needed, and it retails for $60. It can remember your split times for a whole workout, and your average and best splits for past workouts.
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